3SGE BEAMS Swapped Mighty Max

[mcant99]

Hello everyone,

My name is Matt and I have a 1995 Mighty Max. This thread is to show my progress on swapping the factory 4G64 to a Toyota 3SGE BEAMS. I'm putting the beams over a 4G63 mainly due to money; I was able to get the beams with transmission, wiring harness, and ecu for less than I could get a 4G63 by itself.

Now, I'm pretty lazy and have been meaning to start this thread for a few months now, but I'll post all my progress in chronological order so it's like a normal build thread.

Some problems I'm expecting to face are motor mounts, the exhaust manifold, and passing emissions. It's gonna be a fun time, hope you all enjoy.

[mcant99]

One issue I have with doing this swap is that I have to drive my '95 everyday to school, which makes pulling the engine in and out a little difficult. So, I went out and picked up an '87 Ram 50 longbed. Since it wouldn't fit in my garage, I did what any normal person would do, and cut it in half.

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Now, for those of you that might be worried about me cutting a perfectly good truck in half, don't worry. It was completely rusted out, engine ran like garbage, and the brakes blew right after it got into my driveway. If anyone in CT needs spare parts, feel free to contact me.

[geezer101]

No hate on you there. The truck has had a hard life and this is the most humane thing you can do next to getting another truck and using it as a donor to fix yours. It's a Lexus drivetrain? I'm not familiar with the 3SGE BEAMS...

[mcant99]

Now onto the fun stuff, I took the engine and trans out of the 87 and put them on the side of my house, then gutted the interior.

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Next I had to save up the money for the new engine, then drive down to New York to pick it up from the importer. A few hours later I was back home, with the new piece in the garage.

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[mcant99]

Thanks for the response; the beams was from a toyota altezza from the early 2000's, and they were only sold in Japan.

[dash]

must have got that BEAMS powertrain for a steal
If chasing performance, they're weak in the same weight Altezza. Decent in much lighter corollas... = why they're popular swap choice
Would seem like Tacoma powerplants way more plentiful, far better torque: 2.4/2.7 4cyl or 3.4 V6..... if going toyota powered mini

[geezer101]

OK, I got educated. Same as the IS200 Lexus...

[mcant99]

I see what you mean dash, but the beams should be a nice upgrade over my tired 4G64, plus the extra gear in the transmission will be fun to have

[geezer101]

There would be off the shelf tuner gear for your 3GSE like nice headers, cams, maybe a custom intake and ITB's etc. Having an extra leg in the gearbox would be novel. Maybe look at a different rear end ratio as well...

[dash]

Yep, the 3SG should be entertaining, and a nice performance jump over the 2.4. Swaps generally target huge increase tho.

normally aspirated BEAMS mods will be costly, with low yield.... especially @ 2700 lbs. Trucks spell torque


sampled an Altezza 2.0 years back. Owner explained BEAMS to me, agreeing it was lacklustre.
Solution? One $150 junkyard T3 turbo. Luckily a perfect match. Strong torque everywhere. Totally transformed the car


Exact same thing planned for my truck 2.4 sohc - boost.

[geezer101]

Yep, the 3SG should be entertaining, and a nice performance jump over the 2.4. Swaps generally target huge increase tho.

normally aspirated BEAMS mods will be costly, with low yield.... especially @ 2700 lbs. Trucks spell torque


sampled an Altezza 2.0 years back. Owner explained BEAMS to me, agreeing it was lacklustre.
Solution? One $150 junkyard T3 turbo. Luckily a perfect match. Strong torque everywhere. Totally transformed the car


Exact same thing planned for my truck 2.4 sohc - boost.

You can swap a 4G63 twin cam turbo head onto the 4G64 block and there goes all of your compatibility issues - extra 400cc's. :thumbup:

[dash]

compatable yes, practical no. You may bolt on a $50 twincam head, but.... it's a lot messier swap
- intake rwd mod or source another
- dohc electronics
- pistons, for lower compression(even n.a.) $$$
- drill RWD deck holes to redirect coolant
- CAS & Thermostat hsg firewall/rear of head interference
- coolant plumbing
- driveshaft mod if moving motor ahead ....etc.

Actually heaps easier to swap in some type of factory rwd powerplant. Like the numerous JZ powered starquests for example,
...or BEAMS as he chose

[geezer101]

Fair enuff. There are hurdles either way and plus/minuses. This will be an interesting build - take a heap of pics and keep a comprehensive thread of how you're going :thumbup:

[mcant99]

Both of you bring up great points, and I'll definitely take as many pictures as I can for this build

[mcant99]

Time for another update; I had the engine up on the crane, trying to gauge how it would sit and what I would have to do to mount it. It looks like I'm going to have to custom make motor mounts and an exhaust manifold, but it'll sit nice and level in the bay with plenty of extra room.
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[geezer101]

Thanks for the pics. One mount looks dead easy to fab up. Other one will need a bit of thought. Straight into it - top marks! Theoretically all you'll need is a hybrid tail shaft, modded headers, a way to get all the instrumentation together and working and the engine and trans mounts and it'll be about ready to go (some monkeying with hoses but you can go through the racks at the local auto parts shops and eyeball them to problem solve that). Got A/C? If the 3GSE has the compressor it would be awesome to make use of it (maybe power steering as well...?)

[mcant99]

The cooling should be pretty easy to hook up, might just use some flex hose. It does have A/C, but since my truck never came with it I'm not exactly sure on how to make it work, I'll probably just remove it for now.

[mcant99]

Ok, I've been gone for a month, but I have excuses and progress. Now for some reason, every time I try to upload pictures the website crashes, so I'll have to try to upload them later.

First off, I got a link ecu, so I can eventually switch over to ITB's. I'm going to repin the factory harness to the connector for the link.

Next, I finally made the motor mounts. Somewhat. They're tack welded into place, and I need to add another tube so they're more rigid. They're solid mounts, which I wasn't originally going to make, but was much easier to do.

I'll try to get pictures up later, but that's all for now

[mcant99]

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[mcant99]

Now i'm onto the wiring harness, which is always a great time. My plan for it is to have two completely separate harnesses; one for the engine/trans and one for the body. I've started thinning out the beams harness, and extending all the wires so I can reroute the ecu from the engine bay into the cab.

I've also started test fitting manifolds, to see how everything's gonna play out. As I expected, it looks like I'm going to have to custom make the exhaust manifold, but the intake should work just fine for now.

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Oh, and of course my gas tank mount decided to rust out on my way to school, but it's nothing a ratchet strap can't fix. That's all for now, I'll let you all know when the harness is done.

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[geezer101]

Splitting the harness will make it easier to work on later if you run into a glitch. Mounting up the intake will be the easiest part - no brake booster in the way to foul it. The exhaust side on the other hand... are you going to make a crazy octopus manifold? A shame the one on the engine now doesn't clear the steering links (I assume that's what the main issue is), it looks like a good bit of gear.

[mcant99]

I'm not quite sure how i'm gonna route the exhaust, I might just keep it tight to the engine and around the bellhousing. I'm waiting for the flange I ordered to come in before I start mocking things up.

[mcant99]

Ok, it's been about a month since I last put any progress up, and alot has happened.
- I've finally got in my o2 sensor kit, so I can wrap up all the wiring.
- The ITB's and all the adapting hardware came in, minus the trumpets
- I've begun to start test fitting the transmission, and it looks like the stock crossmember will need very little modification to make work with the J160, which will be nice.
- The exhaust manifold flange is in, but I haven't started mocking it up yet because it's gonna suck.
The truck has to run by June 1st, so 51 days left. Wish me luck
-

[mcant99]

Also, the J160 has a hydraulic throwout, and of course our pedals are for cable. It took a bit of trying and about 25 trips to the parts store, but it finally works.
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[geezer101]

You are going ITB's? This is going to sound savage :grin: And nice work on the hydraulic mod too :thumbup:

[dash]

strange to see the clutch master on that side of the booster in a LHD. DSM similar iirc
Just as easily to fab brackets onto stock mitsu rubber biscuits. I suppose solid mount was the goal ?

I'd seek a similar type oem header in the junkyard, for the 'bends'.... cut up both/mig it up, to redirect

[vagrant_mugen]

Idk how I missed this thread b4, and I'm 20mins away from you....

I like the build, get at me we'll hafta get up sometime so I can check ur build out.
I'm in east Haddam right near shagbark hardware. Hmu I wanna see this in person sometime.
You can come see all the crap we build up here.

[vagrant_mugen]

Also, the J160 has a hydraulic throwout, and of course our pedals are for cable. It took a bit of trying and about 25 trips to the parts store, but it finally works.
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Dude the 4wd Max's/Montero's had hydro clutches, u shuda just swapped in a 4wd clutch master & pedal
I think the spot is blank to the left of the booster on ur 2wd models.....
Long as you sorted it out is what matters, but that is a funny spot to see the clutch master on a LHD setup

[vagrant_mugen]

this is the OEM 4wd setup. im willing to be the fittings are prob the same too...
just for future reference
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[mcant99]

I saw that the 4x4's did, but couldn't really source any part numbers for the master cylinder or the different pedals, but if you have them i'd definitely rock that over what I slapped together.
I'd love to check out your shop, pop by my place anytime I PM'd you where I work, I'm sure you've been there before

[vagrant_mugen]

unfortunately I don't have an extra clutch pedal assembly, I know they are all over eBay tho.
If I had the paper I'd order one from the UK for my truck and give you mine, but I'm strapped & imma
hafta mod mine to work....